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A Nod To Jay Butler’s Rutgers Way

To use one of Greg Schiano’s favorite phrases, the Bucs’ defense “bowed their necks” late in the thrilling win against the Panthers today.

The Panthers got the ball back with an eight-point lead and 4:03 left on the clock. But the Bucs dug in and forced a punt with a minute left to set up Josh Freeman’s aerial heroics.

Gerald McCoy, speaking in the Bucs locker room on FOX-13 after the game, gave a loud hat tip to Bucs strength coach Jay Butler, a guy who spent 11 seasons at Rutgers in the same role before Greg Schiano brought him to Tampa. McCoy said the Bucs’ fast and hard training “three or four days a week” left them very ready to be strong in the closing minutes and dominate overtime.

“In the end, we got that extra edge,” McCoy said.

Interestingly, during a separate interview on FOX, Michael Bennett said the Bucs being “one of the most well conditioned teams in the league” was key to the victory.

Before the season, the leader of the New Schiano Order made it clear the Rutgers way was coming to Tampa. In the realm of fitness, it seems the Rutgers model is doing just fine.

Earlier in the year, I was quietly wondering to myself what the S&C coach was doing because we were losing guys like flies to injuries of tendons/ligaments. Good to see some props for this guy for his work.

I’m as thrilled as any Buccaneers fan, but there’s no surprise here, really. When you put in the work, the right kind of work, positive results typically follow. These players are being shown how to put in the right kind of work, and they’re being held accountable for their actions. In short, they’re being treated like men. The sky is the limit for The New Schiano Order.